Three Weeks Down, Three to Go!

It's officially three weeks since Hoss went into involuntary confinement. For the most part he's taking it well. He's not happy about it, but he accepts the circumstances. I think his foot feels whole bunches better. He occasionally has a bit of a bucking fit in the corral. Once or twice he's taken after a dog in play, which the dogs don't take too well. He had a spook moment one morning which resulted in him stepping on Uh-oh's front foot. Fortunately she wasn't seriously injured. She limped for a day or so, but otherwise has been fine.

I have been brushing Hoss every day, and giving him a bath every week. At least he's getting a little interaction. The fungal thing he had last year seems to have come back, so his weekly baths have involved anti-fungal shampoo and spray on treatment. I also use the treatment every day after he's brushed. This has also led to crazy hygiene measures. I wash his brushes every day. The fungus seems to be coming under control, thankfully. It's on his back where his saddle would sit, so it's probably just as well he's currently laid up.

Thinking back, it occurred to me Hoss's hoof injury is most likely due to the accident he and my daughter experienced in mid-April. My daughter and I talked about the incident, and the odds are good that was the primary insult. She told me he definitely fell more to the right than the left. Also, I realized upon reflection I had started to notice problems right about that same time. It was really easy to chalk it up to having recently trimmed his feet and foot soreness. Looking back, he was telling me something was very wrong!

After much thought – and the realization I'd need to shoe him soon – I pulled Hoss's shoes to continue trying the barefoot transition. Obviously it wasn't the boots causing his lameness issue. Not having that to blame it on, it seems a bit unfair to toss out the whole experiment now. With three weeks to go on the layup, it was a good time to go ahead and pull the shoes. He'll have time to readjust before we start working again. And maybe I'll have time to actually acquire hind boots for him!

Before I give up entirely on this barefoot thing, I have to try to get him in hind boots. Clearly the Gloves don't work for Hoss, and the classic Easyboot was a failure, too, leading me to think the Epics would be just as much of a problem. So, on to the Edge boots. I expect the Edges will be my last attempt at finding hind boots that work. This gets expensive in a hurry!

I don't look nearly so whupped as I felt!

I finally got particularly brave and took the mountain bike to Hollenbeck Canyon. Team Fluffy was so excited, although they really had little idea what to expect. Once we got going, though, they had a blast.

While mountain biking, I realized two things pretty quickly:

1. Over rough terrain, it is safer to go faster and stay off the brakes as much as possible; and
   
2. Faster scares the crap out of me.

   

   The view from the top, sort of westerly

   
   

   
   

I found the mountain biking experience much easier than I expected. I must be fitter than I thought. I made it up most of the hills. I did walk the biggest one, partly because I was a little whipped, but also because Mac had managed to get a foxtail in his ear and didn't want to run.

This dog has got to be the most accident-prone thing on four legs. Now that he's over hopping around on three legs from a cracked claw, he seems to have decided it's once again time for foreign bodies in the ears. So, while we were running along the flat part of Hollenbeck, he took off after a squirrel. By the time he came back, it was clear he had something in his ear, as well as having been bitten on the lip by the target of his attack.

Roxy was already at the vet for a regularly scheduled appointment and an unscheduled dental cleaning and removal of her left upper canine. I'd received a call she would be ready by 5:30pm. Well, at 5:00, we were still on the trail with Mac walking slowly along. I called in and let the vet's office know we would be some time in arriving and Mac would need tended to, as well. Mac did eventually seem to realize he would have to keep up on his own. I wasn't going to keep walking slowly with him, and I certainly wasn't about to pick him up!

At the vet's office, Mac got his ear tended and Roxy was beyond happy to be going home. I also picked up Figaro's ashes.

On the subject of Figaro, it turns out he managed to consume gopher poison. I spoke with my neighbors on both sides and learned my neighbor's contractor had put down gopher poison. I told him what happened and he was quite horrified. My understanding is he'd never given permission to lay out poison in the first place. He called the contractor immediately and demanded the poison be removed. At least we know what happened, and that it's unlikely to happen again.

Only three more weeks to go, then I get to see if Hoss is sound again. I have every hope he will be. With the leaping and spooking in the pen, every indication is he's feeling just fine. He's been off the anti-inflammatory for a few days now, so I know what I'm seeing is just him. I'm keeping my fingers crossed the layup will prove to be all the more he needs to remedy the injury.